Freeman nodded. “No questions asked. You were to be eliminated at any cost, made to disappear and all evidence destroyed. Benefield’s rationale was clear — everything had to be kept quiet. In a way it made sense. A biological attack, the components of which were already in place on home soil — the mere mention of it could instigate a nationwide panic. Apparently that was all just eyewash.”
The weight of so many new facts brought silence to the room.
Eventually DeBolt spoke, almost at a whisper. “What could I have done?”
“What do you mean?” Freeman asked.
“That night on the beach, at the cabin. I’ve run it through my mind a hundred times. I lie awake thinking about it. Was there anything I could have done to save her? Could I have … I don’t know, distracted you? Split you up and fought somehow?”
Freeman shook his head. “Look … I’ve been where you are. Don’t waste time beating yourself up. You were unarmed, outnumbered, and had no means of communication.” He looked at his team one by one. “There’s not a man in this room who could have done more than you did. You survived.”
DeBolt didn’t reply for a time. Then he nodded, and said, “Okay. So where do we go from here?”
Freeman spoke for his squad. “I’m convinced the general was bent — I only wish I’d seen it sooner. There were a lot of red flags, but I missed every one. We didn’t get enough background on you or what was happening at the clinic — not enough to justify what we did. I take the blame for that.” He looked around the room before announcing, “As far as I’m concerned, this mission is over.”
One by one, DeBolt saw the other four nod in agreement.
Piasecki said, “We’re all to blame. I wish we could take back what happened, both at the cottage and the clinic. And for what it’s worth, I’m glad we couldn’t shoot straight on that beach.”
Freeman said to DeBolt, “For the sake of my team, I have to ask — are you going to pursue this? We made mistakes, bad ones, but in the strictest sense my men were only following orders. If there’s any culpability it shouldn’t go beyond me.”
DeBolt considered it, and said, “I have access to a lot of information. I can probably verify everything you’ve told me, for better or worse. If it all happened as you say, then the general who issued your orders is responsible — and it sounds like he’s already found his justice.”
“That’s something I will personally verify,” said Freeman.
“But I’m stuck with one big problem,” said DeBolt. “Aside from me, it seems that everyone associated with this META Project is dead. If that’s the case, I’ll never find out what I’ve got in my head.”
“I’m not so sure,” said Piasecki. “If everybody associated with the project is dead — then who killed General Benefield? And why?”
Everyone pondered it, and Freeman said, “He’s right. We may be missing something. Someone. And I’d say we all have a vested interest in making sure every loose end is cleared up.”
The five men looked at DeBolt, who nodded agreement. “Like I said, I could use some help. But there’s one thing I want done before we go any further.”
DeBolt explained what it was, and Freeman said, “You don’t trust us?”
“Actually, I do — about ninety-nine percent, anyway.”
The colonel grinned. “Well, that’s considerably above our approval rating for you … but okay. We’ll do it your way.”
37
Lund heard a door open, then footsteps across the concrete floor. She tensed unavoidably, and startled when the hood was pulled off her head. The first thing she saw was Trey DeBolt’s eyes. She looked past him and saw no one else. The room’s only door was ajar.
She opened her mouth to speak, but it was cut short when he pulled her in and held her. After so many hours of isolation and, she had to admit, fear, the warmth of his gesture brought a wave of relief.
“It’s okay,” he said quietly, keeping her close. “It’s going to be okay.” When DeBolt finally backed away, she saw that he was holding a pair of wire cutters. He reached down and cut the flex cuffs from her wrists and ankles.
“You’re all right,” she said breathlessly. “I was so worried about … what they might have done to you.”
“I’m fine. We’re going to get you out of here.”
Lund heard footsteps outside the door. For the first time she studied her surroundings. The floor was broomed concrete, the walls painted cement. The door led to a set of stairs that disappeared upward, and one of the walls was topped by three transom windows. The windows were water-spotted and opaque, almost no light filtering in. A basement, obviously, probably beneath a house. She could see no one at the door but sensed a presence outside.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“They say it’s a safe house.”
“They?”
“The guys who brought us here — I’ve been talking to them.”
“Okay, that’s good. But you said there was a group of men who’d been trying to kill you, and I thought—”
“Yeah, it’s them. But we’re good now.”
Her eyes narrowed, suspicion pleating her face. “A gang of killers abduct us off a sidewalk, hold us hostage? But we’re good now?”
“Things have changed, Shannon. It’s a long story, one that none of us completely understands. I’m convinced these guys are not a threat anymore. At least not to me or you.”
“Do you know who they are?”
“I was right to a point. They’re soldiers, a special unit.”
“Like a SEAL team?”
“Yes, something like that. But I promised not to say too much. You have to understand that this may not be over. The people who created the META Project are fast becoming an endangered species. Truth is, they may all be dead. Right now, my only concern is to get you safe. These men are going to let you go.”
“What about you?”
“I have to find out what’s been done to me, Shannon. Can you understand that?”
She nodded.
“The only way I’ll get my life back is to learn what’s happened, to understand META and how it affects me. These men can help me do that.”
“And if you figure it out … then you’ll come back to Alaska?”
“Yes.”
She looked right into him, past the blueness in his eyes and whatever hardware was in them. Lund broke away and shook her head. “No, Trey. That’s the first time you’ve lied to me. You won’t ever go back to Kodiak.”
He lowered his head, perhaps realizing it for the first time himself. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I can’t go back.”
“Trey,” she pleaded, “you can’t let this control you! Whatever they’ve done, don’t let it make you something less than you were.”
He nodded resolutely. “I promise you this — once I’ve found the truth behind META, I will find you, Shannon. Do you believe me when I say that?”
To Lund’s surprise, she rocked forward and kissed him.
DeBolt didn’t seem surprised at all. He responded readily and they ended grasping one another, their bodies locked together in the basement’s faint light.
He said, “When you called me two days ago … you said I had to trust someone. Now I’m saying it to you.”